Daniel Mendelsohn Reviews Son of Nobody for the New York Times
Professor Daniel Mendelsohn.
Charles Ranlett Flint Professor of Humanities Daniel Mendelsohn reviewed Son of Nobody by Yann Martel for the New York Times. Interest in the period has grown, he writes, and historical fiction being published today is an extension of the Classical tradition of rewriting stories. Son of Nobody participates in this tradition by focusing on a professor translating a fictional epic about a foot soldier, whose “downmarket and decidedly un-Homeric casting allows the tale, and Martel’s novel, to ask: ‘What is it that makes a hero a hero?’” Mendelsohn concludes that Son of Nobody has “genuine charm at times, with ingenious touches throughout,” though “the book’s central device — the twinning of the lost ancient epic and the modern story of its discoverer’s life challenges, each meant to ennoble a ‘son of nobody’ and make you feel for him — is wholly unpersuasive.”
Mendelsohn teaches in Bard’s Classical Studies Program, which seeks to understand the languages, literatures, histories, and visual and material cultures of the premodern Mediterranean world. The program approaches these ancient societies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including linguistics, art history, archaeology, anthropology, and philosophy, while also considering the long and complex legacies of ancient Greece and Rome in art, language, politics, and culture from antiquity to the present day.
Post Date: 04-06-2026
Mendelsohn teaches in Bard’s Classical Studies Program, which seeks to understand the languages, literatures, histories, and visual and material cultures of the premodern Mediterranean world. The program approaches these ancient societies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including linguistics, art history, archaeology, anthropology, and philosophy, while also considering the long and complex legacies of ancient Greece and Rome in art, language, politics, and culture from antiquity to the present day.
Post Date: 04-06-2026